Mars revives Toronto’s iconic holiday window tradition with Wonders of Mars

Press Release
December 15, 2025
6 minute read

A beloved century old tradition returns as seven magical new vignettes light up 176 Yonge Street, from December 14th to January 2nd.

BOLTON, ON (December 15, 2025) – For almost 100 years, Toronto’s historic holiday windows have been a cherished symbol of the season, sparking wonder and marking the start of the holidays for families across the city. This year, Mars Canada is helping ensure that tradition continues, unveiling Wonders of Mars: a free, seven-window storybook experience that’s brings joy, nostalgia, and community spirit back to the streets and the heart of Toronto.    

The Wonders of Mars windows are a whimsical, magical depiction of a day in the life of the Mars Elves — the behind-the-scenes creators who help bring moments of holiday happiness to families and pets across Canada. Each vignette reveals a different moment in the elves’ day, from their morning routine under a Hubba Bubba-pink sky, to seeing them hard at work at the Mars Chocolate Factory and freeze drying Skittles into Mars’ latest innovation, Skittles Pop’d. The journey ends as they travel through the icy cool Winter Wonderland and settle down to end their day together with a warm holiday meal, alongside their furry friends.

“As a family-owned company with more than 100 years of history, we know how deeply traditions shape joy and connection,” says Ellen Thompson, General Manager, Mars Wrigley Canada. “We’re proud to give back to the community by helping continue a holiday tradition that has sparked magic and happiness for families across the city.”

Hubba Bubba window display
Skittlesland window display
Excel Winter Wonderland window display
One Mars window display

To extend the spirit of giving, visitors can scan the QR code within the display or visit wondersofmars.ca(Opens a new window) to submit their holiday wish list. For every submission, Mars will donate $1* to Food Banks Canada, helping provide meals for families and pets in need this season.

Honouring the legacy of the original displays was also essential. Mars collaborated with longtime creative director of visual presentation, Ana Fernandes, who led the creation of the Yonge and Queen store’s holiday windows for more than 20 years.

“When I was first approached about consulting on holiday windows my instant thoughts were, ‘this is exciting,’” says Fernandes. “Mars and their family of brands are a good fit, so ideas immediately started racing in my head. I’m also humbled and honoured that they wanted to weave in the spirit of the nearly 100-year history of the iconic holiday windows — creating them each year was such a joy for me and brings back wonderful memories.”  

Wonders of Mars is on display until January 2 at 176 Yonge St. Canadians are invited to bring their loved ones to relive the nostalgia of this treasured Toronto tradition, create new holiday memories together, and share the wonder by using #WondersOfMars online. Whether you're visiting the windows in-person or following along from afar, visit wondersofmars.ca(Opens a new window) to create your holiday wish list and be part of keeping the holiday happiness alive.  

*Based on Food Banks Canada's meal metric, where $1 = 2 meals. Mars will donate an amount not to exceed $15,000.  

About Mars, Incorporated
Mars, Incorporated is driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. As a $65bn+ family-owned business, our diverse and expanding portfolio of leading pet care products and veterinary services support pets all around the world and our quality snacking and food products delight millions of people every day. We produce some of the world’s best-loved brands including ROYAL CANIN®, PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, CESAR®, M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, Pringles®, Cheez-It®,  and BEN’S ORIGINAL™. Our international networks of pet hospitals, including BANFIELD™, BLUEPEARL™, VCA™ and ANICURA™ span preventive, general, specialty, and emergency veterinary care, and our global veterinary diagnostics business ANTECH® offers breakthrough capabilities in pet diagnostics. The Mars Five Principles — Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom — inspire our more than 170,000 Associates to act every day to help create a better world for people, pets and the planet.

For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook(Opens a new window)Instagram(Opens a new window)LinkedIn(Opens a new window) and YouTube(Opens a new window).

For further information:
Mars Canada: Tamar Nersesian, tamar.nersesian@effem.com 
Middle Child: Rebecca McLaren, rebecca.mclaren@wearemiddlechild.com